Techmeme
January 1, 2026, 6:35 PM

Top News

Stephanie Palazzolo / The Information:
Sources: OpenAI is taking steps to improve its audio AI models, in preparation for its AI-powered personal device, which is expected to be largely audio-based  —  OpenAI is taking steps to improve its audio AI models, in preparation for its eventual release of an AI-powered personal device, said a person with knowledge of the effort.
Angel Au-Yeung / Wall Street Journal:
Startups have started to offer free nicotine pouches as a perk, as some employees claim the products help them focus during the workday, despite health hazards  —  A nicotine replacement for smokers has started popping up in offices in the tech industry, despite health hazards
More: New York Post and Newser
Simon Willison / Simon Willison's Weblog:
Some 2025 takeaways in LLMs: reasoning as a signature feature, coding agents were useful, subscriptions hit $200/month, and Chinese open-weight models impressed  —  This is the third in my annual series reviewing everything that happened in the LLM space over the past 12 months.
Reuters:
Elon Musk says Neuralink plans to start “high-volume production” of brain-computer interface devices and move to an almost automated surgical procedure in 2026  —  Elon Musk's brain implant company Neuralink will start “high-volume production” of brain-computer interface devices …
Michael Acton / Financial Times:
IDC expected Apple to ship just 45,000 units of the Vision Pro in Q4 2025; Sensor Tower said Apple cut digital ad spend for the headset by 95% in 2025  —  High prices, limited apps and comfort issues expose difficulty of turning futuristic hardware into a mass-market product
Philosopher Count:
How AI automation can fulfill Thomas Piketty's predictions on rising economic inequality, and why highly progressive taxes on capital can help slow the spiral  —  Piketty was wrong about the past.  He's probably right about the future.  —  1. Introduction
Karissa Bell / Engadget:
Adam Mosseri details trends shaping Instagram and says it'll be more practical to authenticate real media than label AI, as AI gets better at imitating reality  —  Adam Mosseri says creators should prioritize “unflattering” images to prove they are real.  —  It's no secret that AI-generated …
Vincent Chow / South China Morning Post:
DeepSeek researchers detail a new mHC architecture they used to train 3B, 9B, and 27B models, finding it scaled without adding significant computational burden  —  DeepSeek has published a technical paper co-authored by founder Liang Wenfeng proposing a rethink of its core deep learning architecture
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
A look at US tech laws rolling out in 2026, including California's SB 53 AI transparency law and Virginia's new social media limits for minors, effective today  —  As usual, 2025 was a year of deep congressional dysfunction in the US.  But state legislatures were passing laws that govern everything …

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Earlier Picks

Biz Carson / Bloomberg:
Jeff Horwitz / Reuters:
Emily Nicolle / Bloomberg: